DART - Preschool Early Intervention

What is DART? DART is an acronym that stands for Discovery, Assessment, Referral and Tracking. DART Preschool Early Intervention: Finds eligible children, ages three to five, who have developmental delays or disabilities in the 42 school districts in Allegheny County. Provides free screenings/evaluations to identify needs in communication, adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, personal/social areas. Provides free early intervention services, at no cost to parents. Includes developmental, speech/language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, vision, hearing and family services. Provided by highly qualified staff of special educators, therapists,  and paraprofessionals, year-round. Eligibility Children must be three to five years old and demonstrate a delay of 25% or more in one or more developmental areas (communication, adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, personal/social) on a standardized assessment. Service Delivery Services are provided in the Least Restrictive Environment. Itinerant services are provided in a child’s preschool, child care, Head Start classroom, Pre-K Counts classroom, or home. Over 65% of children are served in these inclusive environments. Preschool special education classrooms are provided in school district or church buildings. What Should I Do First? Call 412-394-5904 to arrange a free screening/evaluation. Where Do I Start?  How Is Your Child Developing

EBII (Early Behavioral Intensive Intervention)

What is EBII?

• Designed to include all the fun of preschool education, the AIU Early Behavioral Intensive
  Intervention Program (EBII) is a preschool service for children who are 3 to 5-years old
  and have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This program was developed
  in response to requests for intensive, full-day, full-year, family-centered classes
  
• Each EBII preschool classroom is staffed with four highly-qualified professionals. Eight to
  ten children may be enrolled in each class. Other services provided include speech,
  physical and occupational therapies, as well as vision and hearing services, if needed.
  
• EBII combines education goals and home/community goals within the same classroom.
  Families are active and important members of the team and participate in developing
  goals for their children. Because EBII takes the place of wraparound services, classroom
  professionals also provide home supports.

What are Wraparound Services?

• Wraparound services are mental health (not education) services that are provided in the
  home and community. Wraparound agencies provide a BSC (Behavior Specialist Consultant),
  TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support), and/or MT (Mobile Therapist) to help child learn new skills
  at home and/or in the community.

Who is Eligible for EBII?

• Children must be 3 to 5-years old, be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and
• Qualify for Early Intervention Services and
• Demonstrate the need for an intensive program

How Do I Learn More About EBII?

          Call 412-394-3479 or for more information.